Podium Wishes for GPF

Akiko or Ashley get gold. Whoever deserves it, Then silver same as before for Akiko or Ashley. Liza T. All three skate with consistency, musicality, and maturity. Liza is not as elegant because she is younger. She is also very short, and not skinny enough, leggy to get the lines. I also think her Sp is good, glad she went back to Tango. She is the most musical and she has her own style , a charming one like Ksenia, my favorite from the past. Aliona is getting better every year, but Liza is the current star for me from Russia. I don't think her LP is as strong as Akiko's or Ashley's. For someone so young, she is so impressive. I have a feeling julia will beat her, but I hope not. Her flexibility is amazing and when she lands her jumps, her Lp is technically the bomb. She has yet to develop an on ice charisma that draws me in. I may love her by Sochi. When I think of little phenoms, Kwan, still quite rough at 14, had that charm. So did Kim amd Asada. Sasha was elegant at 14 and changed expectations. Sarah had huge energy. Gracie Gold was adorable, as was Mirai. I am thinkining of phenoms like Zhang who had star quality at 14,15. Julia does not smile. I watch for the technical content and to see what she might do with her I spin-it literally makes Sasha's look average. I'd rather watch Katelyn Osmond any day. That is enjoyable. What Osmond was born with (great musicality) Julia may not acquire for a few more years. It can only get better. I feel I should be in Ashley's corner, but I will be very happy to see Akiko win the GPF.

If Liza doesn't bring it, I hope Kiira can outskate her. She is not particularly musical, but this year I actually like her, and the nitpicky things have improved at age 24. I'd say this is the first year she really looks like champion material. I know I am picky. But this is not a beauty pageant (can you hear me in Japan, JSF and judges)? Half kidding only.

So who is your dream podium, and has it changed since the NHK trophy?

I hope they all skate lights out.

How do you feel about ladies and the other disciplines?

If you are too practical to dream, and would rather say who is gonna podium, you could reply that if you prefer. Best guess.

I can't help but want Mao to win. She's such a gorgeous skater. I just can't help but want her to be on top again. I can kind of understand the doubts about whether Akiko can really be a gold medal favorite in Sochi. But ... this might finally be Akiko's year to win Japanese nationals. If she is as gorgeous as she was in NHK they might just have to finally see how glorious she is. And imagine if she goes into Japanese nationals as the GPF champion.
Of course I want all to do well and if all do well I would love to see Ashley and Akiko on the podium along with Mao. I love that Ashley and Akiko _ especially Akiko _ aren't youngsters but they have stayed in the game and worked so hard and are now at the top of their game. It makes for gorgeous and stylish skating. Reminds of Joannie Rochette when she finally figured out how to skate to her potential. Of course, Ashley is still young but not a girl anymore.

Haven't read whom is in/out for the three other disciplines-caught up only on ladies so far, though I know Hanyu won JSF. I love him but Dai is light years ahead-Hanyu has no style yet I can identtify. Can someone enlighten me on the other disciplines? I want Dai to win gold, and I want the Shibs to win gold (are they even in? prolly not, huh? and for pairs gold, I hope V/T are in the final, and they win. I am conflicted ANYWAY. Jeremy is not in, right? Please someone list the other ones. Thank you.

I am catching up tomorrow and think I may surprise myself with TV coverage. I saw a local Nutcracker today-a hybrid of students and professionals from a Providence RI small company. All the kids were adorable, and the pros quite good.

I hope ( I am assuming NBC will do two hours again, gotta go check heather's TV page to see if any Tv coverage.) up It seems The Italian network has the vids and it is so distorted on my puter (both). Eeryone looks so tall and thin. Too bad Universal usually puts up just a few vids. I was looking for Mirai on Universal and did not find it. Reserva, bless them puts up everything, it's just the quality is so bad. Wonder what NBC will cover tomorrow. But hey, I didn't get IN at beginning of season and I should have. Both puters perform slowly and have issues, so...I'll post a TV alert in sep thread unless someone reads this and beats me to it.

Ladies: Not my favorite skater but I hope Ashley wins. She has been by far the best skater of the grand prix series so any other winner would be almost an injustice. Silver and bronze doesnt really matter. Nobody has stood out from the others so far, so whoever skates the best amongst those 5.

Men: Would like to see Takahashi win since he has never won the event (PS- I know he wont). My dream podium would besides that would have any combination that has both Chan and Hanyu off of it (PS- I know that wont happen either).

Pairs- Would like to see either Volosozhar & Trankov or Pang & Tong. V&T since they have never won an event of this magnitude yet, and P&T since it would be nice to add another GP final title to their resume. I am pretty certain one of them will win too, with V&T the more likely. My dream podium would have either Bobrova & Soloviev or Duhamel & Radford in the bronze spot, which could easily happen, although Kavaguti & Smirnov have a good shot at it too.

Dance- My dream podium would have Virtue & Moir on top since they have never won the GP final which is unbelievable. My dream podium which I know wont happen would have Capellini & Lanotte silver (lol, yeah right) and any of the remaining teams besides Davis & White for the bronze.

Ladies: Not my favorite skater but I hope Ashley wins. She has been by far the best skater of the grand prix series so any other winner would be almost an injustice. Silver and bronze doesnt really matter. Nobody has stood out from the others so far, so whoever skates the best amongst those 5.

Men: Would like to see Takahashi win since he has never won the event (PS- I know he wont). My dream podium would besides that would have any combination that has both Chan and Hanyu off of it (PS- I know that wont happen either).

Pairs- Would like to see either Volosozhar & Trankov or Pang & Tong. V&T since they have never won an event of this magnitude yet, and P&T since it would be nice to add another GP final title to their resume. I am pretty certain one of them will win too, with V&T the more likely. My dream podium would have either Bobrova & Soloviev or Duhamel & Radford in the bronze spot, which could easily happen, although Kavaguti & Smirnov have a good shot at it too.

Dance- My dream podium would have Virtue & Moir on top since they have never won the GP final which is unbelievable. My dream podium which I know wont happen would have Capellini & Lanotte silver (lol, yeah right) and any of the remaining teams besides Davis & White for the bronze.

Winning Europeans is not the same level as winning the Grand Prix final IMO. It is like comparing winning Four Continents to winning the Grand Prix final. Well if Savchenko & Szolkowy were there it might be different subjectively speaking, but they werent last year, and probably wont be this year either.